Taiwan election: Tsai Ing-wen wins second presidential term

[TomSea]

Taiwan election: Tsai Ing-wen wins second presidential term

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has secured a second term after sweeping to victory in an election dominated by the island's relationship with China.

With almost all votes counted, Ms Tsai had just over 57% of the vote, well ahead of her rival Han Kuo-yu.

Ms Tsai opposes closer ties with China, with Mr Han suggesting they would bring economic benefits.



More at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51077553

Almost winning by 20 percentage points over her next closest competitor.

[PeteS in CA]

Family is a big thing, so the separation is a source of unhappiness. OTOH, Taiwan and the mainland have diverged culturally, especially in regard to political freedoms, in the past 70 years. Current perceptions see to be that the mainland is currently heading toward a more government/party-centric political culture, and possibly a charismatic leader political culture.

[TomSea]

BOOM!

- Taipei Times

So, Mainland China is upset with the result:

China says Taiwan separatists will 'stink for eternity'
AFP

Taiwan separatists are doomed to "stink for eternity", China's top diplomat warned after the island's President Tsai Ing-wen won a landslide re-election victory in a stinging rebuke to Beijing.

© Sam Yeh Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has drawn the ire of Beijing for refusing to acknowledge that the island is part of 'one China'

Tsai, who has drawn the ire of Beijing for refusing to acknowledge that Taiwan is part of "one China", secured a record-breaking win in Saturday's vote.

Read more at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-says-taiwan-separatists-will-stink-for-eternity/ar-BBYVA3X

Guardian:

Beijing says Taiwan's unification with China is 'inevitable' despite election result
After re-election of Tsai Ing-Wen, who vowed to protect the country from China, the foreign minister pushes back

Beijing has said that anyone seeking to keep Taiwan separate from China would “leave a stink for 10,000 years” in its strongest remarks since the re-election of Tsai Ing-Wen, who opposes unification with China.

On Monday while on a tour in Africa, the foreign minister, Wang Yi, said: “The unification of the two sides of the strait is a historical inevitability,” Xinhua news agency reported.

More at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/14/beijing-says-taiwans-unification-with-china-is-inevitable-despite-election-result

Washington Post:

The end of Xi Jinping’s Taiwan dream
By  Ishaan Tharoor
January 14, 2020 at 12:00 AM EST

About a year ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping fired a warning shot across the straits. Taiwan, he said, “must and will be” reunited with China. Xi addressed the island’s democratically elected leadership, insisting that “independence will only bring hardship” and that unification with the mainland was “an inevitable requirement for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people.”

This weekend, Taiwanese voters sent Xi their most emphatic response yet by delivering President Tsai Ing-wen a landslide victory in the country’s presidential election. Tsai, who represents the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, won 57 percent of the vote in a three-way race that had a high turnout of 74 percent. It was the biggest election victory since Taiwan held its first free and fair presidential election in 1996.

See more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/14/end-xi-jinpings-taiwan-dream/